Lindsay Heckmann Dr. Fogleman EDC 102 H September 25, 2011 Pilgrim High School’s Stephen Hawking I have always been the type of student to ask for help when I don’t understand something. However the amount of help I received always varied from teacher to teacher. Some would be really proactive and happy to explain something further or review. Whereas others would complain I should have taken better notes, be able to recall certain things from years past, or tell me to ask one of my peers. Not Mr. Marrese. He would always schedule time to help a student and assign work to enhance the material being learned. He is one of the best instructors I have ever had.
I was fortunate to have Mr. Marrese for two year in Physics I Honors and Physics II Honors. His usual teaching method was this: teach a section, complete a lab in class, assign a handout to complete in class, assign text-book problems to complete in class, and then review each assignment given at the end of each period. After all this was done, he would assign a quiz to test us on the material learned the previous week and then the process would start all over. He worked this way for all his classes. There was no such thing as “late work” or “make-up tests,” he was very stern in that sense.
At first, I thought he was a very tough teacher. I am an extremely bad test taker and I was afraid I would not do well in his course. I failed the first assessment he gave, but unlike some other teachers at my high school, when I approached him he set a time I could come after class so we could review the material one on one. I continued to meet with him until I didn’t need the extra help anymore. I began to understand the way he taught more and more, following the lessons with ease after some time.
By my senior year, I enjoyed going to Mr. Marrese’s class. My friends and I would groan about having to go to physics “and actually do work” but that what learning is: doing your work. Mr. Marrese would never give us idle time in class; there was always something to do. Many hated this about him, but I loved it. He made me work for an A. There were some classes that I received an A in and walked away with nothing from the course, not Mr. Marrese’s. I left Pilgrim High School with an actual understanding of the concepts that we covered.
Mr. Marrese was also something of a mentor to me as well. We became quite close by senior year and he even rented me for “rent a senior day.” Seniors are supposed to be rented workers and usually help teachers pack up their classrooms for the end of the year. Instead, he bought and my friend Zach grinders and we watched a science fiction movie. We talked about the phenomenon of black holes and I was engrossed by how much this one man knew about the topic. If anyone at school had a question about the universe, they would go to Mr. Marrese and he could give you some type of explanation. We all considered him a genius.
At the close of my senior year I was so close to getting an A- average. I didn’t do too well on my midterm and it really affected my average. My grade came down to my quarterly group project, but I didn’t get good results on that either. I ended up with an 89.1. This meant I had to take a final exam and I was very upset because in Marrese’s class, your grade is your grade. A few days after he called me up to his desk and said “so the science department has no rule that I have to calculate your grade the way the guidance office uses to figure out the cumulative, therefore, I took all the points that you made all year and divided it by the points available and you ended up with a 90.0.” It was at this point that I knew I would never forget this stern, yet kind man who just wanted me to succeed.
Mr. Marrese had a huge impact on my high school experience. He taught me so much over my two years as his student. He was strict but effective, stern but kind, and just a wonderful instructor overall. High school would not have been the same without Mr. Marrese. He was like Pilgrims own Stephen Hawking.
Lindsay Heckmann
Dr. Fogleman
EDC 102 H
September 25, 2011
Pilgrim High School’s Stephen Hawking
I have always been the type of student to ask for help when I don’t understand something. However the amount of help I received always varied from teacher to teacher. Some would be really proactive and happy to explain something further or review. Whereas others would complain I should have taken better notes, be able to recall certain things from years past, or tell me to ask one of my peers. Not Mr. Marrese. He would always schedule time to help a student and assign work to enhance the material being learned. He is one of the best instructors I have ever had.
I was fortunate to have Mr. Marrese for two year in Physics I Honors and Physics II Honors. His usual teaching method was this: teach a section, complete a lab in class, assign a handout to complete in class, assign text-book problems to complete in class, and then review each assignment given at the end of each period. After all this was done, he would assign a quiz to test us on the material learned the previous week and then the process would start all over. He worked this way for all his classes. There was no such thing as “late work” or “make-up tests,” he was very stern in that sense.
At first, I thought he was a very tough teacher. I am an extremely bad test taker and I was afraid I would not do well in his course. I failed the first assessment he gave, but unlike some other teachers at my high school, when I approached him he set a time I could come after class so we could review the material one on one. I continued to meet with him until I didn’t need the extra help anymore. I began to understand the way he taught more and more, following the lessons with ease after some time.
By my senior year, I enjoyed going to Mr. Marrese’s class. My friends and I would groan about having to go to physics “and actually do work” but that what learning is: doing your work. Mr. Marrese would never give us idle time in class; there was always something to do. Many hated this about him, but I loved it. He made me work for an A. There were some classes that I received an A in and walked away with nothing from the course, not Mr. Marrese’s. I left Pilgrim High School with an actual understanding of the concepts that we covered.
Mr. Marrese was also something of a mentor to me as well. We became quite close by senior year and he even rented me for “rent a senior day.” Seniors are supposed to be rented workers and usually help teachers pack up their classrooms for the end of the year. Instead, he bought and my friend Zach grinders and we watched a science fiction movie. We talked about the phenomenon of black holes and I was engrossed by how much this one man knew about the topic. If anyone at school had a question about the universe, they would go to Mr. Marrese and he could give you some type of explanation. We all considered him a genius.
At the close of my senior year I was so close to getting an A- average. I didn’t do too well on my midterm and it really affected my average. My grade came down to my quarterly group project, but I didn’t get good results on that either. I ended up with an 89.1. This meant I had to take a final exam and I was very upset because in Marrese’s class, your grade is your grade. A few days after he called me up to his desk and said “so the science department has no rule that I have to calculate your grade the way the guidance office uses to figure out the cumulative, therefore, I took all the points that you made all year and divided it by the points available and you ended up with a 90.0.” It was at this point that I knew I would never forget this stern, yet kind man who just wanted me to succeed.
Mr. Marrese had a huge impact on my high school experience. He taught me so much over my two years as his student. He was strict but effective, stern but kind, and just a wonderful instructor overall. High school would not have been the same without Mr. Marrese. He was like Pilgrims own Stephen Hawking.